NEW YORK — The federal judge handling Tom Brady’s attempt to overturn his four-game suspension ordered the New England quarterback and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to appear in court twice in mid-August.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman told the sides Friday he had scheduled conferences Aug. 12 and 19 “with your principles (including, without limitation, Mr. Goodell and Mr. Brady).” He also requested the parties “engage in comprehensive, good-faith settlement discussions prior to the conference on August 12.”

NEW YORK — Jon Gruden looks at the present and predicted future of youth sports. It makes him cringe.

The Super Bowl-winning coach and current ESPN football analyst got involved with the Sports Matter program through the DICK’s Sporting Goods Foundation last year. In just more than a year, Sports Matter has repaired fields, bought uniforms and equipment as part of DICK’s $25 million multiyear commitment.

More needs to be done, Gruden says, particularly in low-income areas across the nation.

NEW YORK — Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game has been upheld by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The league announced the decision Tuesday, with Goodell saying that the New England quarterback told an assistant to destroy Brady’s cellphone on or just before March 6. Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells on that day.

The NFL is preparing to send out instructions to game officials and teams explaining new rules for inspecting footballs.

Two people familiar with the league’s plans told The Associated Press on Monday that proper inflation of the footballs will be documented as part of the new policy. But those people say no instructions have been sent out yet.

The first preseason game is Aug. 9, the Hall of Fame game between Minnesota and Pittsburgh in Canton, Ohio.

SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles might be in the NFL’s future sooner than anyone thought.

The NFL could approve a team move to Los Angeles by the end of the year, with a club playing in the area by the 2016 season.

NFL vice president Eric Grubman, the league’s lead man on a possible return to LA, said Wednesday the window for such applications that now begins Jan. 1 could be moved “to very late in the (upcoming) regular season.” The 32 team owners could vote on a team’s relocation “some weeks after that.”

SAN FRANCISCO — The NFL is moving back extra-point kicks and allowing defenses to score on conversion turnovers.

The owners on Tuesday approved the competition committee’s proposal to snap the ball from the 15-yard line on PATs to make them more challenging. In recent seasons, kickers made more than 99 percent of the kicks with the ball snapped from the 2.

SAN FRANCISCO — Now that Patriots owner Robert Kraft is not appealing his team’s punishments in the deflated footballs scandal, only his quarterback’s challenge remains.

Moments after Kraft said Tuesday he won’t oppose the $1 million fine and loss of two draft choices the NFL penalized the team for its role in using underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game, the players’ union reasserted that Tom Brady’s appeal will go forward.

There hasn’t been a week — make that a day — since the Super Bowl that the NFL hasn’t made news. As the owners gather this week at their spring meetings, their plate couldn’t be much fuller.

While recent headlines have centered on Tom Brady, the Patriots and deflated footballs, there is plenty else the owners will discuss. For sure, Brady’s suspension, the Patriots’ punishment and the repercussions will be a topic, in many ways an awkward one.

NEW YORK — Noted labor attorney Jeffrey Kessler will aid in the players’ union’s planned appeal of Tom Brady’s suspension.

The New England Patriots quarterback was suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2015 season for his role in the deflating of footballs. He has until 5 p.m. today to file the appeal. His lawyer, Don Yee, and the union have said they will appeal.

So Jameis Winston is headed to Tampa Bay as the first overall selection and Marcus Mariota goes to Tennessee at No. 2. They’ll take their Heisman Trophies (Winston in 2013, Mariota last year) and try to turn two downtrodden franchises into contenders, maybe even champions.

Neither was in Chicago, choosing to watch — and celebrate — at home with their families.